Sanjay Gandhi National Park (aka Borivali)
Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a small pristine park on the
outskirts of Mumbai in Maharashtra State in India. Sanjay Gandhi
National Park covers an area of 104 km2 (40 mi2) of thick jungles.
The Sanjay Gandhi National Park has a long history dating back to
the fourth century BC. In ancient India, Sopoara and Kalyan were two
nearby ports that traded with ancient civilizations such as Greece
and Mesopotamia. The 45 km land route between these two ports was
partly through the forest.
The Kanheri caves in the center of the park were an important
Buddhist learning center and pilgrimage site sculpted by Buddhist
monks between the 9th and 1st centuries BC. They were carved in a
basalt outcrop.
The park was called "Krishnagiri National Park" in the time before
independence. At that time the surface of the park was only 20.26
km2. In 1969, the park was expanded to its current size by acquiring
various properties of the forest reserve near the park. after this,
an independent unit of the forestry department called "subdivision
of the Borivali natural park" managed the area. The Krishnagiri
National Park was created in 1974 and later renamed "Borivali
National Park". In 1981, it was rededicated as "Sanjay Gandhi
National Park" in memory of Sanjay Gandhi, the son of former Indian
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was killed in an 1980 aviation
accident.